Best PlacesRandolph County, IL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Randolph County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Randolph County ranks 2,421st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on fast internet.
The best neighborhoods in Randolph County
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
The best areas in Randolph County
The parts of Randolph County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Red Bud
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and it is quieter.
Chester
Incomes run higher, though fewer residents vote.
Steeleville
Prices have run up less and crime runs lower.
Sparta
Advertised internet is faster and homes cost less.
Scores across Randolph County run from about the 3rd to the 56th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Randolph County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Randolph County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 85% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than 72% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 67% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 64% of counties
Where Randolph County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 48 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Randolph County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Randolph County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,787, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Randolph County's effective rate of 1.30%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Randolph County
Randolph County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Randolph County.
Who works in Randolph County, and how
Work in Randolph County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Randolph County
Randolph County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of counties and more parkland per resident than 68% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Randolph County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Randolph County growing, and who is moving in?
Randolph County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Chicago, IL.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Randolph County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Randolph County, month by month
Randolph County sees roughly 48 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 56° | 45° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Randolph County
The nearest airport, Scott AFB/Midamerica St Louis, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 56 miles away.
The best schools in and around Randolph County
Schools across Randolph County average a D, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Prairie Du Rocher Elem SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Red Bud Elem SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Steeleville Elem SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Trico Jr High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Coulterville High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Red Bud High SchoolD · 23% proficient
- Trico Senior High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Randolph County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Randolph County measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Randolph County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Randolph County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 5% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Randolph County
Is Randolph County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Randolph County ranks 2,421st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, a stable housing market, and state infrastructure, and lowest on the weather and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Randolph County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $149,845. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $72,787 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Randolph County safe?
Randolph County is safer than 44% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Randolph County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 25. That works out to about 48 pleasant days a year, more than 0% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Randolph County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Red Bud, Chester, and Steeleville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Randolph County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Randolph County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Randolph County represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Randolph County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Randolph County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Randolph County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Randolph County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Randolph County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Randolph County detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.